Newsletter August 2021

Bonsai Notebook

Meeting Time And Place:
August 14, 2021 at 7pm
Longo Toyota Meeting Room, El Monte, CA 91731
6pm Board Meeting prior to General Meeting

The August 14 meeting will be held at Longo Toyota, 3534 Peck Rd., El Monte at 7:00pm. We have used the meeting rooms at Longo before when summer concerts interrupt our meeting dates. This site is a close alternative to the Arboretum and a valuable resource for us. The meeting room is downstairs on the west end of the main showroom building.

Our demonstrator for the evening will be Julian Tsai. You may remember Julian from when he joined the club with his parents a few years ago. He has since progressed quickly in the bonsai art.

Julian developed a passion for bonsai during his college years and pursued an
apprenticeship at Fujikawa Kouka-en in Osaka, Japan. He studied with Mr. Keiichi
Fujikawa, and the experience gave him a foundation in both evergreen and deciduous
techniques. Julian puts an emphasis on horticulture and development that enable
sustainable design.

As a young and new bonsai artist, he hopes to create beautiful trees and share his
enthusiasm for the art. Come and watch Julian apply his talents on a tree that will go
home with a lucky raffle winner.

President’s Corner

I hope you are all enjoying the renewal of our month meetings. The interest and pleasure of our art form is much more suited to live meetings.

Well, the weather has definitely heated up. Be sure to keep up a regular watering
schedule. I water every day because of my fast draining soil and sometimes twice on the 100+ degree days. Misting also helps during extreme heat. It will help minimize leaf burning. Water in the morning so moisture has a chance to soak in before the daily heat evaporates it. It is easy to let our trees get away from us with quick summer growth. Keep up with trimming so sun can get into the middle of trees and promote growth close to the trunk.

The Golden State Bonsai Federation is hosting a “Bonsai Rendezvous” October 1-2 in Santa Nella. There will be no fees, so it will be a great opportunity to see free
demonstrations, get critiques on your own trees, and shop with vendors from northern and southern California. Check their website for details, www.gsbfconvention.org.
Anytime you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at
[email protected] or via the SABS website at www.sabonsai.org

~Dave

July 2021 Meeting Highlights

We had a great time at our first live meeting post-covid at the home of Peter and Marissa Macasieb. As usual, we got to marvel at Peter’s wonderful collection. We were able to visit with each other and be treated to a fun demonstration by Peter. Peter started by talking about his favorite topic, developing shohin bonsai. Using examples from his collection, he talked about cutting trees back hard to get to the necessary size, flat-cutting root bases for size and new root growth, and layering of larger trees. At one point, Peter picked up his reciprocating saw and quickly cut a large tree down to shohin size. He surprised us all, but made a dramatic point. We loved it.

Just when we wondered if Peter was going to work on a demo tree, he brought out a nice medium sized black pine and began wiring and bending. He talked about wiring technique as he worked, and a beautifully shaped bonsai began to materialize. Peter’s wonderful talent coupled with his vision for the tree resulted in a bonsai we all wanted to take home.

After the demo we had our raffle, with the largest collection of trees and bonsai items I
can remember seeing at our meetings. It took awhile to give away everything, and I hope everyone enjoyed it. The evening culminated with Zane Meints winning Peter’s tree. Zane, who was at his first club meeting, was surprised and pleased with his luck. He got pointers from Peter after the meeting, and looks forward to learning more.

Members Corner

The newsletter, updates and better quality photos are always be available on our website www.sabonsai.org It was wonderful to have an opportunity to visit with current members and welcome so many new bonsai enthusiasts to our July meeting. Our turn out was exceptional, the demo complete with a sawzall lesson was fascinating, the raffle table was extraordinary and the opportunity to be together in a live setting and share bonsai was memorable.

Many had questions about Club dues. For all who paid in 2020 prior to the close down,
your membership will remain current thru Dec 2021. For those of you joining in 2021 your membership will extend until Dec 2022.

Please join us in welcoming our new members in 2021

Barry & Guy Altshule
Ron Espiritu
Jackie Zinder
Manuel Dizon & Ian KillipsJoel Villalua
Hubert LlanesDenise & Phil Williams
Julio MartinezMarren Padrones

Thank You To our July Raffle Table Donors

Jerry Banuelos, Sue Cook, Ron Espirit, Emma Janza, Mike Kelly, Gary Lai, Matt Mahafrey, Dave Miles, Michael Robinson, Victor Shelton, Wendy Tsai, Frank Yee

And to all who so generously purchase tickets

Upcoming Events

October 2-3
GSBF Bonsai Rendezvous
Hotel Mission de Oro, Santa Nella, 9a-4p daily with
demonstrations, critiques, vendors, no banquets, see website for details,
www.gsbfconvention.org

Come Join Us

Next Meeting

Date: August 14, 2021
Time: 7:00PM
Location:
Longo Toyota Meeting Room
3534 Peck Road
El Monte, CA

Board Meeting

August 14
Prior General Meeting
6:00 PM

2021 Monthly Meeting Dates

Aug 14 — Longo Toyota – Julian Tsai
Sept 11 — Home of Dave & June Nguy
Oct 9 — Arboretum – guest TBA
Nov 13 — TBA

Refreshment Schedule

Aug 14 — Joel Villalu , Wendy Tsai, Barry Altshule
Sept 11 — Sue Cook, Jackie Zinder, Hubert Llanes, Marren Padrones

2021 Refreshment Sign ups will be available at Aug meeting